Grandfather caught making napalm after being egged

A vengeful grandfather was caught making napalm after his house was egged by
neighbours, a court has heard.

9:31AM BST 09 Sep 2011

When police officers found an agitated Nicholas Smith mixing substances and asked what he was doing he replied: "What does it ------- look like? I am making a bomb.”

The 53-year-old was grating soap into a saucepan at his home after trawling the internet for bomb-making tips, a court heard.

The two officers were responding to a complaint about eggs being thrown at his house in May when they found Smith "stressed and anxious” as he made the concoction.

Smith was arrested and during an interview, he said: “I just wanted to kill them, I had enough.”

In a chilling entry on Facebook, Smith is said to have threatened to “burn” neighbours who “declared war” on his terraced home.

The 53-year-old, who had had a daughter named Melanie who had died, wrote: “Now I’m going to die tonight. War has been declared by those who live at number 13. Eggs thrown at mine tonight 5pm. To hell with the cops. I will burn them tonight. Prefer being with Melanie today.”

Smith, a former Territorial Army volunteer, is on trial at Teesside Crown Court facing two charges under the Explosive Substances Act.

Dan Cordey, prosecuting, told the court that Smith had download bomb-making instructions before the plot.

The jury was shown a printout of a web page taken from Smith’s computer. It read: “Anarchist’s list, how to make a bomb, 22 ways to kill.”

Mr Smith had visited several websites about explosives after searching “how to make a bomb”, said Mr Cordey.

It is alleged that he also viewed articles on how to make napalm and Molotov cocktails.

PC Fildes, who attended Smith's home with a colleague, told the jury that police arrived at Mr Smith’s home at 10.20pm, on May 8, but were immediately called away to another incident, returning about an hour later.

Various household items were seized, including a saucepan, cheese grater and soap, along with his computer.

Smith had been tormented by local youths who had thrown eggs at his house and dropped their trousers, the court heard.

Dan Cordey, prosecuting, said: “The defendant, as a result of his activity, was arrested and interview. Initially he repeated what he had said on arrest, that he was making a bomb. He said, ‘I just wanted to kill them, I just had enough’. He explained, by that he meant the residents of 13, 17 and 25 of Twelfth Street.

“A group of kids between six and 12 years of age were all responsible for anti-social behaviour directed at him.

“He said he was getting hassled day after day with kids doing things like dropping their trousers and throwing eggs.”

Forensic scientist Lorna Phillip, who analysed materials seized from Mr Smith’s home, told the court her findings suggested he had been attempting to create a thickened fuel mixture.

She said the mixture would not have been explosive in itself, but it could have been described as napalm.

Ms Phillip went on to explain that napalm was originally a term for a specific chemical compound, but had evolved into a description for any thickened fuel that was used in improvised explosive devices, such as Molotov cocktails.